chapter 10

Question 1

cult of stalin

Answer 1

• propaganda of him everywhere (statues, streets, towns, poems, plays, art, music etc)
• new way of socialism - way of stalin

Question 2

stalin changing history

Answer 2

• glorified his part in the bolshevik revolution
• removed part played by trotsky and other leading bolsheviks
• new paintings and photographs to show how ‘close’ stalin was with lenin

Question 3

media censorship

Answer 3

• union of soviet writers in 1932 - controlled content of authors to make sure it acted as propaganda for the state
• ensured people in the soviet union knew little about the outside world
• pravda and izvestiya
• radio closely controlled

Question 4

socialist realism

Answer 4

• russian association of proletarian artists/writers (RAPP - changed to usw in 1932)
• all media had to be accessible and easy to understand, nothing abstract
• it had give simple, clear and optimistic messages
• everything would show the successes of communism

Question 5

religion

Answer 5

• christian leaders were imprisoned (60k priests in 1920s, 5.6k by 1941)
• churches turned into museums
• church bells used for 5 year plans
• 60k+ places of worship closed down, people worshipped in secret during purges
• league of militant atheists set up
• mosques/muslim schools shut down, pilgrimages banned, islamic law banned
• jewish schools/libraries/synagogues closed down, hebrew banned
• no new churches
• 1937 census - 50 million religious
• religious worship allowed again after 1941 to unite the country

Question 6

control of education

Answer 6

• new programme of education introduced in 1932
• strict discipline, exams brought back, fees in some advanced schools
• widespread propaganda campaign
• children taught stalins version of history - a short history of the ussr
• teaching of communist ideology was mandatory

Question 7

successes of education

Answer 7

• education changed to focus on technical/scientific skills needed for 5 year plan
• by 1939 94% of urban dwellers and 86% of rural population able to read and write
• high number of engineers, teachers, doctors and scientists
• youth groups trained children in communism (octobrists, young pioneers, komsomol)

Question 8

1936 constitution

Answer 8

• introduced to make the outside world see russia as a free society
• secret ballots
• elections to the soviets every 4 years
• candidates for elections had to be approved by the communist party
• universal suffrage for everyone over 18
• guaranteed civil liberties (freedom of speech, press, assembly etc)
• real power lay with the communists
• all freedoms were to be exercised with approval from the communists